(v. t.) To set free, or release, as from some obligation, debt, or responsibility, or from the consequences of guilt or such ties as it would be sin or guilt to violate; to pronounce free; as, to absolve a subject from his allegiance; to absolve an offender, which amounts to an acquittal and remission of his punishment.
(v. t.) To free from a penalty; to pardon; to remit (a sin); -- said of the sin or guilt.